James Baillieu (born 1968) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

activist investor.

Family and education

Baillieu was born in 1968 to parents Ian Baillieu, an Australian lawyer, and the art gallery owner Marianne. He is the nephew of former Premier

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...

and journalist, activist

Kate Baillieu Katharine Jean Baillieu (born 17 January 1946) is an Australian former journalist. Early career Baillieu worked as a journalist and later as a personal assistant to Kerry Packer. In 1977, Baillieu was awarded the Douglas Wilkie Medal by the An ...

and also Olympian

Will Baillieu Will Baillieu (born 15 August 1951) is an Australian rower. He competed in the men's coxed four event at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He is a brother of former Premier of Victoria, Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is ...

. His grandparents were Diana and Darren Baillieu. His great-uncle was WL Baillieu. His great-great-grandfather was James George Baillieu who swam the

Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip (Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completel ...

Rip and landed in

Queenscliff, Victoria Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe. At the , Queenscliff had a population o ...

in 1853. The Baillieu family office Mutual Trust merged with the Myer family office in 2018 creating a firm with more than $3b under management. Baillieu was educated at

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denominatio ...

. He graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

where he received a BA and LLB (First Class Honours).

Career

Baillieu practiced law at Mallesons Stephen Jacques in the early 1990s. He then joined management consultants

McKinsey & Co McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

for seven years until 2001. He then became an early investor in and Senior Vice President of

Aconex Aconex Limited (ASX: ACX) was an ASX 200 listed public Australian company providing mobile and web-based collaboration technologies for project information and process management (also sometimes described as project management or project extra ...

which was purchased by

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

for A$1.6 billion In December 2016. From November 2017 to February 2019, he was Chairman of ASX-listed BidEnergy and also its largest shareholder. BidEnergy was the top performing stock on the ASX in 2018.

Notable legal matters

Baillieu is described by the

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

as “seriously combative". He is described by

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

as "the Baillieu family's chief spear thrower" with "an open approach to conflict". He is described by

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

as taking a stand as an activist investor who “targets the good fight.” Baillieu uses

Herbert Smith Freehills Herbert Smith Freehills is an international law firm with headquarters in London, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia. It was formed on 1 October 2012 by a merger between the United Kingdom-based Herbert Smith, then a member of the "Silver Circl ...

as his legal advisors of record and has been involved in a number of legal matters.

Personal life

Baillieu lives in Melbourne and is married to Josephine. He takes an interest in the work of the

World Wildlife Foundation The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

which the couple supports through an annual event at their

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...

home. In December 2011, Baillieu and his wife Josephine hosted

Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne, which means that should he succeed, Mary ...

and

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (Frederik André Henrik Christian; born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Early life Crown Prince Freder ...

as guests for a week in a secret visit to their Mornington Peninsula home. His son Atlas was the Australian Junior Chess Champion. Baillieu is an author for publication

Crikey Crikey is an Australian electronic magazine comprising a website and email newsletter available to subscribers. Crikey was described by the former Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham as the "most popular website in Parliament House" in ''The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baillieu, James 1968 births Australian billionaires Living people 20th-century Australian lawyers University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Melbourne Grammar School